Professor Luke Ziarek on Tips to Keep Students Engaged

Professor Luke Ziarek of the University at Buffalo shares how he keeps his students engaged during this stressful time.

Low response times get students answering questions

When you get your response time low, it really drives engagement for your students. They’re very excited that their questions are being answered, other students start jumping in and answering questions, so endorsing student answers is very handy — it really promotes interaction. It is a great learning tool for students because writing an explanation really solidifies a particular concept.

Track participation statistics to re-engage students

Especially in these times, when everyone is under a great deal of stress, you can reach out to students that might not be engaging. That kind of personal reaching out really helps to get the student to re-engage with the course.

Use Panopto to share recorded lectures

In terms of other tools that I’ve been using, Panopto is a great way for sharing videos. I record my lectures using Panopto and then I do all of my online discussion using Piazza.

We will continue to share tidbits from instructors on how you can stay connected. If you have your own insights, email us at team@piazza.com and we’ll work to share it with the world.